Tuesday, August 31, 2010

...and the blind WILL see!

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him." John 9:1-3

There are so many things that happen in life that are kind of, well...miserable. There are children with birth defects, some are born and grow up with out a parent or both, sometimes it's cancer in a family member (or yourself), a natural disaster destroys life as you know it, you lose a job, someone very close to you dies, or a car accident forever changes your life. None of these things are fun, and I know the first question asked is "why?" I don't believe that there is always an answer like we would like, but I do know that there was a man born, many years ago that was born blind. The reason? So that the power of God could be seen in Him. If that's the only reason that the accident happened, and the only reason Cale is having to go through all of this, so be it. I pray that the power of God would be seen though Cale, through me, through our marriage, and through every part of this journey. I pray that God receives all the glory for every continued breath that Cale takes, and for every day that I get to see his smile, be wrapped in his hug, feel his kiss, and hold his hand.

“But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!” John 9:25 Praise God for all the blessings!

Today for PT and OT we went on an outing to the Stanford mall. Cale did so good! We were out for a long time, so he had to use his legs to move the chair (still not using arms to help...) and there were people all around. it wasn't too crowded so that was a good thing. Before we left we stopped at a yummy dessert place and Cale picked out a 3 Layer Chocolate Mousse :)

Cale loved it and gave it a thumbs up when I asked how he liked it :)

Yay for us!

After enjoying his delicious dessert (I helped a little...!), Patricia worked with automatic things, like counting. She said singing, counting, and saying the alphabet, all use the right side of his brain so maybe we'll get something from that, as far as some voice! He didn't get any sound, but he did really well! He starts out with "one"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHs1IVgo7n0

A Forever Friend..."Everyone needs a forever friend" this is what I was told a couple weeks ago. "Do you have one Kathleen?" "Well, I most certainly do, quite a few in fact!" I replied with a cheesy smile. "I know you might have a lot of friends, but do you have a friend, that has been there before this situation in your life, and before married life? A friend that will continue to be there with you, through anything life brings, no matter the distance between you?" Again, with a cheesy smile, I replied "Yep! I sure do!" :) I'm so blessed aren't I?!

Meet one of my forever friends...

Her name is Rachel. She flew out right after the accident to be with me, a month later, again in July, and tonight I get to see her again. She's an amazing friend and I'm truly blessed. We have a a few adventures planned while she's here, of course that means I'll be away from Cale a lot. It's going to be a challenge for me and him, but it'll be good. I've talked with all the staff about it and I've talked to Cale several times, trying to prepare him a little. I've probably been a little crazy with the preparation actually...I have set a whole bunch of stuff up, wrote a list of stuff for staff to try if he gets worked up while I'm gone. I was given a recorder to record my voice that they can play for him, I've been working with him to use his cell to call me (he needs help with this), all the therapist and nurses know to write notes of therapy's and other things I miss, in a little journal, and of course there are pictures and scripture all over the room for him to be reminded. I realize it's all a little over the top, but...I know he hates it so much when I'm gone even for an hour, so, if I can try my best to make it as comfortable as possible I'm going to try my hardest! :)

So Happy To hear all of the wonderful progress in Cale, Kathleen have a wonderful time tell Rachel hello from us,Love, Michele & John Siemasko also I'll tell Alexis she'll be happy, our oldest yet to meet you.